Lawrence billboard a reminder of the cost of violence

LAWRENCE (FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) - A billboard hanging high over Lawrence carries one vital message: please stop the violence.

The billboard was Denise Murray’s idea. It features a picture of her son, Timothy Walker, who was murdered in Lawrence in July 2010.

Also on the billboard are words so often repeated by parents who lose a child, “Parents should never have to bury their children.”

Over one year later, Murray’s grief runs deep.

“I didn’t lose him. He was taken from me. I’m never going to get over that,” Murray tells FOX 25.

On July 24, 2010, Timothy Walker was gunned down while sitting on his grandmother’s porch in Lawrence. His death investigation was at a dead end until a FOX 25 viewer recognized the gunman as 19-year-old Raphael Martinez and notified police.

Denise Murray hopes her billboard, and Timothy’s face, will provide a reminder to others about the terrible toll violence takes on a community and a grieving mother.

Martinez has not yet gone to trial for the alleged murder of Timothy Walker.